A foster dog blog about those who come to play

Jumping, scampering, swatting, leg nibbling, hurdling one another, paw fights, tails fluffed, under the couch, over the table, around the lamp … kittens are so fun to watch play. Right now there are 6 – varying age, size, color. It makes me smile, especially as I sit her typing – trying to make sense of the past few months and figure out just how I let my blog get so out of date (obviously because I chose to sleep … some).

Well, as you can certainly tell, I’ve been a slacker. Okay, major slacker. Life just went haywire the day I brought home a momma with nine 2-week old puppies! Since then there have been numerous fosters: … dogs and … cats, to be more exact. (Including little Carsen who’s currently snoozing on my shoulder, still purring. He’s my favorite – and yes, it’s because he chooses me over playtime. You’d make the same choice!)

As I sign onto FosterDoggies.com for the first time in eons, I only hope that the ever-so-contagious blog bug will hit me hard and I’ll quickly become addicted (in a good way – not in the become crazy obsessed blogging and checking comments at 3 in the morning way. No offense!)
So, for now, I’ll be posting both current and past blogs. This “catch up” will serve both as a reminder of the wonderful fosters I’ve had over the past few months, as well as, continue to be my quote Foster Journal. I can’t go back and write what I would have written then, but I definitely want to give words to my thoughts and memories, better recalled now than never.

As I opened my eyes to greet the bright (already too bright too early) new day, I knew there was lots to be done, but what fun awaited … no idea.

Pebbles creeped up the bed to get that good morning scratch (a reward for staying ON the bed the whole night rather than visiting the litter box or trash can). And then the routine begins – along with the whining from below, they were awake too. First things first, throw on a robe and wearily head downstairs. At the sounds of me on the steps, the whining stopped and the thuds began. Quick, quick – waggin’ tails against crate walls.

Out, breakfast, out. Then it’s time to feed the momma and kittens and the momma and puppies upstairs (more on them later). This is where it all started to go wrong. As nursing mothers, they need the nutrients in canned food – so they get a lot of it. Unfortunately, my can opener is downstairs, so I do all before I get back up. We’ll back up a little – two nights ago – naughty Abbi pushed her way through the wedged door and caused quite a load of destruction in the kitchen, including spreading the trash around beautifully as morning gift for me – pretty sure she had much more fun than I did. Anyways, all those open cans leave a lot of sharp, jagged lids – of which I had missed cleaning up one. So this morning while opening yet another can, slice and sting! Blood was oozing quickly from my big toe – ouch!!! I didn’t have time for this.

Stop everything before my blood gets everywhere and in everything – wait a WHOLE 15 mins on the couch for the freaking thing to stop its unnecessary and bothersome bleeding.

15 mins behind schedule. Hmphffff

What shall I wear? OO, what’s this? My closet poles have fallen of f the wall and all my clothes are piled together and getting wrinkled!! AHHH!!! I threw on a wrinkless dress – YAY! Nothing I hate more than ironing.

Don’t you hate technology? I spent the rest of the morning checking email ON my phone – only to frighten the begeezies out of me for the day. Last week, I got a new foster, Boone (more on him later too). Well, he was transported with another dog – who has a snotty nose and then last night had a few tremors. These are classic symptoms of distemper – something relatively uncommon in the basic dog world but unfortunately not in the foster wold. It’s also something very lethal to those infected and very contagious – airborne contaminants which can ONLY be killed by bleach!

So, a million emails later and six hours later – the vet cleared the dog of distemper (course, it could still be that). But whew! I think I breathed for the first time since before I cut my toe (which, I hadn’t noticed was throbbing and swollen by this time.)

Surely, dinner with my best friend would make the sorrows go away, the frights, the disgust that I very nearly exposed my own four AND too many fosters to such a deadly disease.

Dinner was fantastic. We talked for close to 2 hours.

When I got home, I saw a dog playing close to my back gate and got prepared to save him! Surely my neighbors would love me – but woe is me – it was Pebbles!! The little booger. She must have dug herself out – UNDER the doggie proofing system (a steel garden border hammered into the ground and around my entire fence). So, she came, happy I was home and I let her in the garage with me and then inside. Went to the back to let in Abbi but instead found tormented chairs, my table flipped sideways, and the front gate banging in the wind. My heart skipped and I stopped breathing again.

“Dad, I think there may have been someone trying to break in!” “I’m on my way!” Love Daddies!!

We determined that Abbi was indeed the culprit and hammered and screwed the loose board (she had merely tossed it aside along with my broken hindge – lock still attached.)

So with that, I’m sitting here blogging and unfortunately venting – unfortunate because it’s been entirely too long since I have written a word on here and in all honesty, NOTHING but great things have been going on. Soon my friends, soon I will be posting a million cute kitten and puppy pictures that will make you oo and ahh rather than the pity you’re feeling for me now! 😉

In other news, hopefully DogFosterMom will do a Sunday Scoop on distemper and all it’s horrors soon so that everyone will know how important it is to VACCINATE your pets!! Don’t be stupid.

I was looking back through some Ranch pics and saw the below trilogy. It caught my eye bc of the way Pebbles was sprawled out in the mud. As you can see here, it’s typical for Pebbles. She always likes to get dirty:

But this was just too weird – she doesn’t love water so I was actually documenting that she got near it willingly! I’m sure that it in no way did this newly found affinity for lakes have anything to do with her being tied to Piper! Maybe that’s why she’s down – hanging on to dear life, dead weight and making Piper drag her. If I’m going in, I’m not going in easily!

…

“Pebbles, look at that? What is that? It’s shiny and right there at the edge of the water. Don’t you want that? It’s just for you and you’re gonna love it. Everyone is going to be so jealous of you! You just have to have it”

Posed Perfection

True to their names, these three jump, smoosh, shrink, kick the enemy, scale new heights, flip, make mad dashes, sneak around corners, scope out trouble, and pick on each other. Whether its scaling stairs or shoo’ing canine enemies outdoors – they’re up for the task. As a team, nothing is too big, nothing too scary, nothing too challenging. They’re always looking for the next adventure.

(Now I’m going to share a million shameless pictures – as their proud momma with the certified right to brag. I’ll even through some cute ones in there so as not to confuse you – they are little love bugs … sometimes.)

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My Four

Pebbles

Kat saved me from a shelter when I was only six weeks old. Can you believe it? She said I was her healing puppy and it was love at first site!

Now I've got Bubbas, who love to cuddle too - even if I've nibbled on their ears all day! And I've got a big yard where I can have friends over until they find a home of their own. This dog blog is all about my foster friends, as well as, some fun stories about our lives together at Bella Cashlin (Our Beautiful Little Castle!)

Griffin and Rhino

Back in the spring of 2008, our mom, pregnant and starving, wandered onto Mimi's ranch in east Texas. Mimi is a true animal lover! Kat came to visit her Mimi and we quickly attached ourselves to her. A few days later we were heading to the city.

We're typical rough-housing brothers who are all heart. We love people and can't help ourselves from following them around close at their heels or curling up on top of them if they take a seat. We're sooo loving, most people think were weird ... that we're like dogs.

Abbi

My family was packing up all their stuff. The house was empty. What was happening? I didn't understand. Then Kat showed up. Little did I know what love she had for me and the family I would be getting - all for me! No more making up games to play by myself in the yard, no more getting swiped by the cat when I just want to play a little, no more long nights alone in the laundry room.

Now I've got a sister who loves to play (even lets me put her whole head in my mouth) and two Bubbas who like to cuddle. I even have tons of friends already! I can't believe how lucky I am.